Betsy Mugavero on Playing Juliet to Directing Romeo and Juliet

By Liz Armstrong

Betsy Mugavero directed Romeo and Juliet this 2023 season at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, but her journey with the Bard’s most popular play began long before. 

A long time Festival actor, Mugavero has been in over 20 Festival productions since 2008. The last time Romeo and Juliet was produced here, in fact, was when Mugavero played Juliet in 2017. 

The director has been in four productions of Romeo and Juliet, playing Juliet in three of them. Her first time acting as Juliet was at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Mugavero was also in a production at Great Lakes Theatre in Cleveland, which was a co-production with Idaho Shakespeare Festival. She also played Paris’s Page in a college production at Temple University. 

“I was excited to tweak things in the way that I wanted [after having been Juliet] and seeing the play so many times. I was able to solve some problems I thought were in the play,” Mugavero said. 

It’s her favorite play, having acted in, watched, and now directed this popular Shakespeare play.

Acting versus Directing 

But this experience as a director at the Festival was an entirely different experience than when Mugavero played Juliet six years ago. 

First off, directing meant that for Mugavero, the production was her responsibility on a much larger scale. 

“As an actor, you [can collaborate], but you’re still only allowed to say the lines you have,” Mugavero said. “As a director, I’m able to share my love and nurturing of all of these other characters and encourage these other talented people to live in this story the way that I want them to.” 

The responsibility and challenge of directing wasn’t the only thing that was different for Mugavero. After becoming a mother to two children, she approached the play through an entirely different lens.

“When I played Juliet in 2017, my son was five months old and it was a crazy time in my life,” Mugavero. “This time, directing it at the Festival, I’m now a mom of two. I’m older, and I saw the story differently––from the perspective of the parents of Romeo and Juliet.”

In Mugavero’s Q&A interview with the Festival, the director expressed her hope that audience members would experience the play with a sense of compassion and understanding . . . and Mugavero did the same as a director. She found compassion especially with Juliet’s father.

“With the father having this outburst of rage, in past productions he just seems like an abusive person,” Mugavero said. “But in our production I wanted to portray him as someone who was just having a bad moment.” 

Mugavero stressed that these characters are not bad people—they are just acting out in ways that are completely and typically human. 

“I was lucky with the actors I had, as they are such open-hearted people that they couldn’t seem like bad guys,” Mugavero said. “The ‘bad guy’ is the lack of understanding.” 

Mugavero’s Start in Theatre 

“I got into acting in high school, where I did community theater. I loved the way I felt when I was performing, because I felt more myself,” Mugavero said. “As an actor, it’s like you’re putting on a mask, and because you’re hiding you get to be more of who you are . . . because it’s safe.”

After that, Mugavero went to school for acting, earning a Bachelor of Arts from Temple University and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, Irvine. 

Mugavero loves acting because of the symbiotic relationship between actors and audience members. 

“I get to talk with them and be with them and breathe with them and our hearts beat together . . . and tell this story with them,” Mugavero said. “When else do we get to do that? It’s a beautiful experience. We get to laugh and have fun and fall in love, and [theatre represents] so many of the best and worst experiences of life.”

Her Journey Into Directing

After directing such a compelling and beautiful production of Romeo and Juliet, it’s surprising to know that Mugavero was once very afraid of directing, having no ambition to shift from acting to directing. 

“But out of the opportunities I’ve had to direct . . . I enjoy it so much,” Mugavero said. “Not because of the power, as my experiences have been so collaborative, but because it’s fun to see what other people want to do and encourage them to go for it.”

This year, Mugavero is directing more than acting, and she is eager to direct again at the scale she did in the Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre this season at the Festival. 

“The Engelstad is perfect for Shakespeare, because Shakespeare is big and bold and requires space,” Mugavero said. “But every story is worth telling if it has integrity and a place for us all to grow, meaning audience members and performers alike.”

Mugavero approaches directing with this statement in mind: 

“We should go into every project considering it a chance to learn and grow and become better at being a person.”

To experience Mugavero’s work, purchase tickets to Romeo and Juliet at bard.org, call 800-PLAYTIX, or visit the Ticket Office onsite. With just four weeks left of the production––it closes September 8––now is the time to see the Bard’s timeless tale of tragedy and love.

Words Cubed to Present Staged Readings of The Value and Horse Thief

Starting August 11 and ending August 26, patrons have the opportunity to attend Words Cubed, the Festival’s new play development program. Plays are submitted through an open process, and the experience provides professional actors, directors, and stage management the chance to work with the playwright in a week-long workshop process.

During this time, playwrights, with the input of their actors and directors, revise their plays daily in preparation for the audience members who attend staged readings at the end of the week. 

The submission process allows playwrights of varying experience from across the country to submit plays on any subject. The writers submit a synopsis of the play, 15-20 contiguous pages of their choosing, and a character description. Interim Artistic Director and Director of New Play Development Derek Charles Livingston and a team of ten others with theatre backgrounds read and consider the submissions, searching for the two perfect fits for the season. 

“Is the play different from what we’ve done before? Does it balance with the plays on our main stages this season? Are the two plays different enough? Can the play have a reasonable development in the time allotted?” Livingston and his team asked questions like these while vetting the 534 submissions received this season. 

After much deliberation, Livingston decided on two new plays with complementary themes: The Value by Nicholas Dunn and Horse Thief by Christine Whitley. 

The Value follows a trio of petty thieves who have just stolen a painting. The plot reveals complicated pasts, wavering loyalty, and the ultimate question––what is the painting worth? Ultimately, the painting seems to reflect their own sense of intrinsic value in a society driven by money and power. For the full synopsis, click here. 

Nicholas Dunn is an award-winning writer, actor, filmmaker, and teacher based in Salt Lake City. He has had original plays debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland and at Wasatch Theatre Company’s Page-to-Stage Festival. His plays have also been presented at Salt Lake Acting Company, Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts, Riot Act Inc, Pittsburgh Playhouse, and the Canadian Play Thing. He has also written and directed several short films and commercials, is a script coordinator for films including HBO’s Mosaic directed by Steven Soderbergh, currently teaches in the University of Utah’s Theatre Department, and is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild.

Elijah Alexander, who is currently playing Timon in Timon of Athens and Tullus Aufidius in Coriolanus at the Festival, directs this reading. The cast includes Dylan J. Fleming, Tim Fullerton, Alex Keiper, James Ryen, and Marco Antonio Vega, who have also all been cast in the 2023 Festival season. The Value will be presented on August 11, 12, 23, and 25 in the Anes Studtio Theatre at 9:30 a.m.

Horse Thief is a modern Western that tells the story of treachery, penitence, and hope. It follows the horse thief Dutch, after robbing Mary’s stable. He shows up looking to make things right. But Mary holds Dutch at gunpoint, determined to discover who was actually behind the robbery. For the full synopsis, click here. 

Christine Whitley is also an award-winning writer and member of the Dramatists Guild. Horse Thief was the winner of the 2017 Playwrights First Competition and finalist for the Jerome Fellowship for Emerging American Playwrights. Another of her works, The Goatwoman of Corvis County, had a world premiere at Shakespeare & Company in Massachusetts. Her play Miles Away was a semifinalist at the O’Neill Playwrights Conference and won the Bloomington Playwrights Project Woodward/Newman Drama Award. 

Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre at Southern Utah University Lisa Quoresimo directs this reading. The cast includes Jasmine Bracey, Nathan Hosner, and Marissa Swanner, actors from the 2023 season. Horse Thief will be presented on August 18, 19, 24, and 26 in the Anes Studtio Theatre at 9:30 a.m.

“I’m very excited about this year’s plays,” Livingston says. “On the surface, they seem very thematically related in that they are both about thievery on some level, but the execution is so different.” 

He explains: “The Value examines three people who steal a painting without knowing its monetary worth and their interaction with a man whose connection to the previously stolen art is priceless. The way tension constantly mounts and the power dynamics shifts among the characters is a revelation on the value placed on inanimate objects and the value these characters place on themselves.” 

Livingston continues: “In Horse Thief, a seemingly repentant horse thief returns, wounded, to make amends to a victim of his ‘profession.’ He’s not expecting to face the gun she holds on him, and she’s not expecting the power he still holds over her. It’s kind of a western-revenge-mystery-love story. Both plays keep you riveted and wondering what will happen next. I can’t wait to have our audiences hear and contribute to these plays.”

Words Cubed tickets are $10 and can be purchased by visiting bard.org or the ticket office onsite, or by calling 800-PLAYTIX.

2022 Company Member Penny Hodson Now in International Broadway Tour

By Liz Armstrong

Penny Hodson was a part of the vibrant cast of The Sound of Music last season, playing the beloved Marta, one of the Von Trapp children. We excitedly congratulate Hodson on her new role as a swing in the International Tour of The Sound of Music, presented by Broadway Asia Group.

Presenting one of the most beloved musicals of all time, there will be multi-week stops throughout the Philippines, India, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, with additional countries to be announced. 

“It’s such a heartwarming story. Everyone who sees it leaves feeling inspired,” Hodson said. “Maria saw the best in the Captain [von Trapp], giving him space to change, and I think doing this with others in my life is important too.” 

From Salt Lake City, Utah, Hodson is twelve years old and has done theater for two years. She has been taking singing lessons for a year and a half and started dance lessons recently with the dance captain on tour. 

She’s also been in A Christmas Carol with Hale Center Theatre, and Matilda and Shrek with other arts groups in the Salt Lake area. Her future goals include going on a national tour and being in a show on the West End. 

Hodson’s Journey Into Acting 

Hodson honestly admitted that her first audition was one she didn’t necessarily want to do. 

“My mom looked in the newspaper and saw an audition for Matilda and encouraged me to do it,” Hodson said. “I was really shy, but ended up doing it. I just wanted to be in the show, but was cast as Matilda!”

Hodson is always coming up with songs and dances with her little sister, and creating performances of Taylor Swift. Looking back, her mother says, “How did we not know you were a performer?”

How the Festival Changed Her 

Hodson loves the songs in The Sound of Music, and enjoys that all of the Von Trapp kids are so different, with unique personalities. She also noted that the Festival prepared her immensely for the international tour. 

“I went into that production not knowing how to hold my own in a different harmony line,” Hodson said.  “Learning lines and singing melody came a lot easier for me, but I really had to work at learning harmony.”

Hodson realized that practice really makes a difference, and she ended the season realizing that she loved singing harmony. 

Because the production at the Festival was her first show where she was really integrated with an adult cast, Hodson learned how to be professional not only around kids, but with adults.

In addition to growing as a performer during her season at the Festival, Hodson grew as an individual. 

“Because we lived in Salt Lake, I had to learn how to live away from my family and commute,” Hodson said. “I think this helped me prepare for living abroad away from my friends and family.” 

The Festival enjoyed having Hodson in the 2022 production of The Sound of Music, and we wish her the best of luck with her international Broadway tour of the same show. 

“I was found by a New York casting agency because of the Festival,” Hodson said. “I’m just so grateful for the opportunity.”

For more information on the international tour, click here. 

Also, don’t miss out on our 2023 season, running from June 21 to October 7. The lineup includes Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Jane Austen’s Emma The Musical, A Raisin in the Sun, The Play That Goes Wrong, Timon of Athens, and Coriolanus, as well as all the experiences surrounding the plays, such as The Greenshow, seminars, orientations, and backstage tours. Tickets and information are available by calling 800-PLAYTIX or visiting bard.org.

Q&A with Director Valerie Rachelle on Jane Austen’s Emma The Musical

Director Valerie Rachelle returned to the Festival this season, having been an assistant director almost twenty years ago. This season, she directed the “bubbly and elegant” Jane Austen’s Emma The Musical. 

She has also worked at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Syracuse Opera, and Utah Festival Opera to name a few. She is currently the Artistic Director at Oregon Cabaret Theatre.

Rachelle boasts teaching credits from the University of California Los Angeles, PCPA, and Southern Oregon University. She received a Master of Fine Arts in Directing from the University of California Irvine after a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from the California Institute of Arts. 

The Festival: How long have you been directing plays? What is your history with the Festival? 

Rachelle: I have been a choreographer for over 30 years. I have been directing for over 25 years. I was last at the Festival as an Assistant Director for All’s Well that Ends Well in 2005. So, this year is my second time working for the Festival.

The Festival: Why were you excited to direct Jane Austen’s Emma The Musical? 

Rachelle: I’m a Jane Austen super fan. And, I have directed and choreographed musicals for over 25 years now so the two together––MAGIC!

The Festival: This musical is very similar to the original novel. Why should people come see this show? 

Rachelle: It’s a beautiful glass of sparkling wine. It’s full of celebration, laughs, love, romance, and joy.

The Festival: What challenges came with directing this play? 

Rachelle: Honestly, it was the smoothest, most joyous process I have been a part of.

The Festival: As playgoers, what should we watch for in this play that would help us enjoy it even more? Are there any special Jane Austen “easter eggs” you have implemented into the play as the director? 

Rachelle: If you are a Jane Austen fan you will notice many of the lines and descriptions of characters are directly from the novel. Even some of the lyrics in the songs are direct Austen quotes.

The Festival: What realization or feeling do you hope audience members leave with after seeing the play?

Rachelle: In my director’s statement to the designers I said I wanted the audience to leave the theater holding their partner’s hand, or giving someone a hug––spreading joy to others is the goal of this musical.

For more information on Rachelle, visit her website at valerierachelle.com. 

To purchase tickets to Jane Austen’s Emma The Musical this season, click here or call 800-PLAYTIX.

Q&A with Director Derek Charles Livingston on A Raisin in the Sun

Derek Charles Livingston is the Interim Artistic Director and Director of New Play Development at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. This season, however, he has also taken on the role of directing Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. 

“I am a director because I love the theater and love helping to shape moments, bringing stories to life, and I enjoy working with actors and finding out what makes a play speak to us,” Livingston said. “I do so in a style that at times leans into theatricality as a way of telling, not reality, but truth. I like to be a storyteller and a truth teller.”

Last season, Livingston portrayed Thurgood Marshall in the Festival’s production of Thurgood. He has also served as the Managing Artistic Director at Celebration Theatre and the Program Manager at Playwrights Project. Livingston received the New Hampshire Drama Award for Lead Actor in Driving Miss Daisy. 

Livingston received a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University and Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Film and Television.

The Festival: As playgoers, why should people come see this play? 

Livingston: People should come see this play because it is a really terrific piece of writing that’s an American classic. Speaking a bit immodestly, this production has really terrific performances that have moved the audiences tremendously in the weeks that it has been in our stages. People walk away in tears, and I have had a number of people tell me how impactful the play is to them. Raisin at the Utah Shakespeare Festival is indeed something that is proving to be a moving theatrical experience. That is what we do here. 

The Festival: What should we watch for in this play that would help us enjoy/understand it better? 

Livingston: I think if people want to have a richer understanding going into the play they should look up the Supreme Court case Hansberry v Lee because it provides an insight into the playwright’s inspiration. What I appreciate about the play is that [playwright] Lorraine Hansberry takes an experience––neighborhood integration––and makes it so relatable and personal through this one family, the Youngers. Audiences should also pay attention to the moments of love and triumph in this production. It was something that was very important for me as a director to represent the idea of love within this family and to celebrate black joy. 

The Festival: Are there any special “easter eggs” you have implemented into the play as a director? 

Livingston: There are some fun things for people to understand about what they are seeing on the set itself. Our set designer has relatives from working class Chicago, so there are elements on the set that come directly from his understanding and his memory of visiting his grandparents in the Chicago area, particularly the pipe stove in the kitchen and the doilies on the sofa and the chair. I also have a friend who had an apartment in New York in the 80’s that shared a bathroom in the hallway to which everyone had their own key to the shared bathroom, so that was something that was happening thirty years after the play that you are seeing.

The Festival: What statement/realization/feeling do you hope audience members leave with after seeing the play?

Livingston: I hope that people walk away from this play really appreciating the fine dramatic writing…the dialogue, and the structure of the play itself. There is a reason that it is an American classic, it is taught in schools, and has been revived on Broadway three times. And in the characters of Walter Lee Younger and Lena Younger, Lorraine Hansberry has given us characters that stand alongside Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman or Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. 

I also want audience members to walk away appreciating the Younger family itself and identifying the similar values in their own families. I have been saying for well over a year that there is much that I think Utah Shakespeare Festival patrons share with the Raisin family: a family led by a person of faith; that works hard; that values life; that lives multigenerational; and that sticks together. 

The Festival: How long have you been directing plays? Why are you a director? 

Livingston: I have been directing plays since I was in college. I had an interesting experience. Paula Vogel, who is a well known playwright and playwright instructor, taught playwriting at my college, and she had asked me to direct a play written by another undergraduate who went on to have a very successful career. That undergraduate, Rachel Shenkin, now teaches playwriting at Yale Drama School. Rachel also won a Tony Award for writing the musical The 25th Annual  Putnam Spelling Bee. Early on, I really enjoyed the aspect of looking at a play from the outside as director and shaping it, making decisions about how the picture will look, what the rhythms of the play would be, and illuminating and highlighting certain lines. 

The Festival: What challenges came with directing this play? 

Livingston: Because the play has such emotional weight, with highs and lows and such an emotional journey for Walter Lee Younger, the work to fully represent the scope of Lorraine Hansberry’s genius was compressed and intense. There are also some other interesting challenges. The play takes place in 1954, so every now and then we would run across some information that someone who is younger (no pun intended) in our cast didn’t know. One funny rehearsal moment was explaining to someone how a record player works, or the time it takes to use a dial phone. 

There were more serious aspects too, such as reminding people just what a dangerous decision Lena Younger had made in deciding to move a black family into a white neighborhood in 1954. The other challenges were sometimes the language; the patois that Lorraine Hansberry writes is very particular to a Southern and Midwestern experience, and many of our actors are not from those areas. Marrying those patterns to the poetic way in which Lorraine Hansberry writes is something on which we spent time in during the rehearsal process. 

The Festival: Why were you excited to direct this play? 

Livingston: I’ve known about this play my entire life, mostly because of the movie version with Sidney Poitier as well as in part of its time on Broadway. There was never a time that I did not know about an A Raisin in the Sun. I had read it in high school and I have seen two of the filmed versions of it. I also recognize the impact and weight of it as a piece of American drama. 

But also, there are some of the things that I very much identify with. I am the grandson and great grandson of domestic workers, and two of the characters are domestic workers. I came from a family in which two generations ago home ownership did not happen for my family, and the next generation, on my matrilineal side, three of those four children were homeowners. When that generation had passed away, they were able to pass down wealth in a way that had not happened prior to that. In the last few years the topic of home ownership and the ability to pass down wealth and how that was denied to a large section of the African American community due to things like redlining and restrictive covenants has reached greater awareness. 

On that level I really tap into what Lena Younger is doing by trying to provide a house for her family. What is beautiful about what happens in this play is that she is not doing it for any sociological reason or political reason. For her, it is about her trying to provide something for her family with money from her late husband’s life insurance policy. Literally, giving his life is able to increase the wealth of the next generation. Improving the lot for the next generation is part of the American story, but is particularized in the African American community in this play. That is very personal to me. The chance to move through that with this amazing cast of actors, many who have had this same experience and dynamic in their families, was not only theatrically rewarding but personally rewarding for all of us. 

To purchase tickets to A Raisin in the Sun this season, visit bard.org or call 800-PLAYTIX to purchase tickets.

Festival Honors Passing of Costume Designer Janet Swenson

By Liz Armstrong

Janet Swenson was a beloved Festival seasonal staff member for just under 20 years. As a costume designer, Swenson was an essential part of the productions each season. 

Swenson was born in 1947 in Seattle Washington, and passed “with dignity and humor” on July 20, 2023, after dealing with illness for many months. The Utah Shakespeare Festival acknowledges her beautiful work and commitment to the Festival for so many years, and offers condolences to Swenson’s family and friends.

During her theatre career of over 50 years, Swenson designed costumes for over 280 productions. She was also a makeup artist for more than 50 productions, and a millinery designer for eight. 

Her first role as Costume Designer at the Festival was for Timon of Athens in 1993. Since then, Swenson was the Costume Designer for over 22 shows, including Richard III (1994), Pericles (1997), Peter Pan (2000), My Fair Lady (2004), Camelot (2005), Twelfth Night (2007), and Much Ado About Nothing (2010) to name a few.

In addition to Swenson’s tremendous work at the Festival, Swenson taught at Brigham Young University for 39 years and served as Resident Designer at Robert Redford’s Sundance Theatre. Other professional credits include costume design for Disney Channel, California’s Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, Guthrie Theatre, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Hale Theatre, and more. 

Festival Costume Director Jeffrey Lieder worked closely with Swenson.

“Her contributions to the Festival were remarkable . . . especially the beautiful A Midsummer Night’s Dream she designed with Fred C. Adams in 2011,” Lieder said. “She was an excellent teacher, designer, collaborator and artist, and a true and loyal friend.” 

Steven Schmid also worked closely with Swenson in the costume shop. As the draper for Timon of Athens this season, working on the show has been a full-circle moment. His first season at the Festival was in 1993, when Swenson was the Costume Designer for Timon of Athens––the first, and only other time the Festival has produced the show. 

“I’ve been thinking about Janet, and what she would’ve thought of this production,” Schmid said. “I think she would’ve loved it, as [this production] is a great example of what we can do at the Festival.” 

Funeral services will be held this Friday, July 28, at 11:00 am in Pleasant Grove, Utah. 

To send flowers or a card and to read Swenson’s full obituary, click here.

The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art to Perform The Comedy of Errors at the Festival

By Liz Armstrong

As part of a strategic partnership with the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London is bringing The Comedy of Errors to Festival audiences.

The production will run from August 1-5, 9:30 a.m. in the Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre. 

“Our audiences are in for such a treat,” Interim Artistic Director Derek Charles Livingston said. “[RADA] has put together a whiz-bang version of one of our audience’s favorites of Shakespeare’s.” 

This is an exceptional experience that Festival patrons won’t want to miss out on––as the actors have extensive training from this prestigious London academy. 

“This is the second year of our partnership with the famed British acting school, and the presentation last year of Much Ado About Nothing was pure delight,” Livingston said. The emphasis of this partnership is on the art of contemporary Shakespeare performance and training from the Bard’s homeland. 

The RADA training program boasts a number of exceptional alumni that have seen success as actors, including Alan Rickman, Allison Janney, Anthony Hopkins, Glenda Jackson, Roger Moore, Joan Collins, and Richard Attenborough. And the next RADA “star” just may be on the Festival stage this summer.

In addition to seeing such accomplished actors, The Comedy of Errors is 90-minutes of fast-paced Shakespeare. RADA describes it as “a classic farce of mistaken identity sprinkled with Shakespearean magic and heart.”

“This one-week-only presentation of one of the Bard’s most funny plays is being presented in our Anes Theatre, where our audiences will be up close to all the action and wit in The Comedy of Errors,” Livingston said. 

To purchase tickets, which are $20, visit bard.org/plays/rada-the-comedy-of-errors, call 800-PLAYTIX, or visit the ticket office in person.

Festival Feature: Meet 2023 Lighting Board Operator April Salazar

By Liz Armstrong

In theater, the lighting board operator’s main responsibility is to make sure that the lighting equipment is working and running smoothly throughout the run of the show. After all, what’s a play if you can’t see and experience it properly? Additionally, they run the cues from designers, making them an instrumental part in the success of a production.

Meet April Salazar, a light board operator for the 2023 season. From Laredo, Texas, Salazar is a graduate of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. After graduating with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre with an emphasis in lighting design, Costume Crafts Supervisor Rosa Lazaro invited Salazar to come work at the Festival. 

Salazar’s Journey at the Festival 

In 2022, Salazar was the Technical Director for the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s Educational Tour of Much Ado About Nothing, making her responsible for managing sound, lighting, props, scenery, and costumes. After the tour, Salazar took a position at the Festival as a spotlight operator for Clue and The Sound of Music. 

Salazar didn’t stop there, returning to the Festival for the 2023 Educational Tour of Othello as the Technical Director. For Salazar, the Festival is an “enchanting” place to work. 

“There’s something that brings me back,” Salazar said. “The work environment is high production, but the people here are [welcoming].”

 Now, for the 2023 season, she has landed the title of Board Operator for A Raisin in the Sun and Jane Austen’s Emma The Musical in the Randall L. Jones Theatre. 

“I’m the person in the booth with the Stage Manager making sure everything works,” Salazar said. “I’m a part of the build crew, helping with lights and making them work during technical rehearsals. During the season, I’m essentially the designer’s fingers.” 

The Start of It All 

Salazar’s love for theatre started in middle school, when she began to act. Her transition into lighting, however, was where Salazar found her niche. 

“In high school, I was one of the only people that showed up to run a light board, and people kind of depended on me from then on,” Salazar said. 

Salazar was more than okay with that, voicing her love for the technology of lighting. 

“I like working behind-the-scenes and the software and programming,” Salazar said. “People just assume you plug in lights, but there’s much more to it. I love the math and build process––the troubleshooting.”

What’s kept Salazar in lighting is the problem-solving aspect. For some, the puzzle of it all would be dissuading, but for Salazar, it’s the career-niche she’s always wanted, combining computer-science with theatre.

“It’s one of those jobs that people don’t think you can have, running lights in theaters,” Salazar said. “So I decided to pursue it.” 

Eventually, Salazar plans to be a lead electrician and be able to work and manage shows as a leader. 

Salazar Voices Personal Connection to A Raisin in the Sun 

Salazar highly encourages patrons to come see A Raisin in the Sun this season. Personally, she didn’t expect to connect so fully to the show, but found herself in the character of Beneatha. 

“I resonate with Beneatha, because she tries to do something out of the ordinary. She wants to be a female doctor,” Salazar said. “I wanted to pursue a career in theatre––something those from my culture wouldn’t deem as a successful career path. But I am succeeding.” 

Salazar also connects to the racial themes in A Raisin in the Sun, having grown up in a bordertown in Texas. 

“I grew up in a [rougher] neighborhood,” Salazar said. “I like the exposure the play is bringing to that type of lifestyle.” 

To observe Salazar’s work at the Festival, purchase tickets to A Raisin in the Sun or Jane Austen’s Emma The Musical by calling 800-PLAYTIX or visit bard.org.

All Seven Productions Now Open at the Utah Shakespeare Festival

The Utah Shakespeare Festival is thrilled to announce that all seven main stage productions, plus three Greenshows, are now open for the 2023 season. 

This season, believe in the power of theatre and don’t miss out on an enchanting and thought-provoking lineup of productions, running until October 7. 

What’s On

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is Shakespeare’s popular tale of fairies, dreams, and changes of heart. Created in a combination of worlds very different than anything seen on our stages before, this popular comedy features Corey Jones as Theseus/Oberon, Cassandra Bissell as Hippolyta/Titania, and Max Gallagher as Philostrate/Puck, directed by Jessica Kubzansky.

Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known tales of tragedy, focused on rash decisions, enmity, and “star-cross’d lovers," featuring Ty Fanning as Romeo and Naiya McCalla as Juliet. After playing Juliet in the Festival’s 2017 production, Betsy Mugavero returned to direct this production.

Jane Austen’s Emma The Musical, directed by Valerie Rachelle, is an enduring and charming love story featuring Allie Babich as the vivacious Emma and Rhett Guter as the straightforward Mr. George Knightley. If you know this story, but have never seen the musical version, its accessible and hummable melodies truly add a captivating dimension. 

The Play That Goes Wrong is a hilarious and chaotic ill-fated play-within-a-play, featuring the earnest but amatuer efforts of the Cornley Drama Society members putting on “The Murder at Haversham Manor.” Directed by Geoffrey Kent, the cast displays comic genius, including that of Chris Mixon as Dennis, Jim Poulos as Max, Melinda Parrett as Annie, and Rhett Guter as Chris.

A Raisin in the Sun is an American theatrical masterpiece that breaks down barriers, challenges assumptions, and restores hope. It features Corey Jones as Walter Lee Younger, Kayland Jordan as Ruth Younger, Maureen Azzun as Beneatha Younger, and Monique Gaffney as Lena Younger (Mama), and was directed by Derek Charles Livingston. 

Shakespeare’s rarely-done Timon of Athens explores friendship and the foibles of a materialistic society. Directed by OBIE Award-winner Lisa Peterson, who is also directing Coriolanus, the play features Elijah Alexander as Timon and Nell Geisslinger as Apemantus. 

Coriolanus is one of Shakespeare’s least-produced plays, and focuses on themes of ambition, power, and weaknesses in leaders. James Ryen plays the hot-headed Coriolanus, with Jasmine Bracey as Menenius Agrippa and Darin F. Earl II as Sicinius Velutus.

These seven productions along with three fantastic nightly Greenshows, free seminars and orientations, backstage tours, and more make for the perfect summer get-away to lovely Cedar City. For more information about the plays and to purchase tickets, call 800-PLAYTIX or visit bard.org/plays.

The Ultimate Utah Shakespeare Festival Experience

Our season is here and five of our seven main stage shows are now open. Don’t miss this season’s fantastic lineup of productions: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Jane Austen’s Emma The Musical, The Play That Goes Wrong, and A Raisin in the Sun. Timon of Athens and Coriolanus will open July 17 and 18, respectively. 

But we offer more than just world-class theatre. Attending just one of our productions can be a transformative and unforgettable experience in itself, but your ultimate Festival experience can be an entire day full of learning, enjoying, and believing in theatre, starting at 9:00 am and ending late at night when the final curtain closes. 

Allow us to walk you through an ideal day at the Festival:

Free Play Seminars, 9 am and 10 am:

The following day after every performance, a free seminar is held in the Seminar Grove to discuss the previous day’s matinee play at 9 am, while the 10 am seminar will center around the evening performances. Theater scholars, accompanied occasionally by directors and actors, will lead lively discussions, encouraging audience members to share their interpretations. 

Free Producer, Actor, Prop, or Costume Seminars at 11 am:

All of these seminars are the perfect opportunity to learn from Festival administration, actors, Properties Director Ben Hohman, and Costume Director Jeff Lieder. For more information and dates for these free events, visit bard.org/plays/#activities. 

Orientation at 1:15 pm:

This is a perfect––and free––opportunity to better understand the plays before experiencing them firsthand. Conducted by theater experts, expect a play introduction and question-and-answer session that will only accentuate your play experience. This orientation time is for matinee plays, and will be held throughout the season. 

Matinee play at 2 pm: 

After grabbing lunch at one of Cedar City’s many top notch restaurants, it’s time for a matinee play! Visit bard.org/plays for our play lineup. On your way out, take a stroll through the grounds and enjoy our statue garden and beautiful flowers. 

Visit the Southern Utah Museum of Art:

With time to spare before dinner and the next play orientation at 6:45 pm, we suggest stopping by SUMA, located directly north of the Randall L. Jones Theatre. 

In one of the exhibits, Artists Aïsha Lehmann and Vitus Shell have contributed works to an exhibit that reflect the themes of the Festival’s 2023 production of A Raisin in the Sun, on display now through September 23. The exhibit is titled: “A Dream Deferred: New Perspectives on Black Experience.” For more information visit suu.edu/suma.

Orientation at 6:45 pm 

This orientation will follow the same format as the matinee orientation, except that it will be centered around the evening performances. Shakespeare can be a bit intimidating, so whether you are a first-time play-goer or a loyal patron, we encourage you to stop by before The Greenshow. 

The Greenshow at 7:10 pm 

The Greenshow is a free, lively, and audience participatory experience. This year, we have three themed shows that will rotate throughout the season: The Hills of Appalachia, English Regency Garden Party, and Paiute Heritage and Celebration. During the performance, don’t forget to purchase one of our world-famous tarts––we promise you won’t regret it! 

Evening play at 8:00 pm 

Finally, it’s time to end the day with enchanting performances in the open-air Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre, the beautiful Randall L. Jones Theatre, or (in a couple of weeks) the intimate Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre. After a busy day, this is the perfect time to relax and enjoy the magic that live theater brings.

To purchase tickets for the 2023 season, visit bard.org, call 800-PLAYTIX, or visit the Ticket Office onsite.